Roll cutting machines are known in which a web delivered by a roll, displaced along a transport path and wound up again on a roll can be slit longitudinally as the web is displaced along the path.
Such a machine can comprise, in addition to the supply roll and the take up roll, a guide, e.g. a rail arrangement, running transversely to the direction of displacement of the web and a blade arrangement including a blade and a counter blade, e.g. rotatable blades which are mounted on at least one slide displaceable along the guide to allow adjustment of the widths of the web portions into which the web is subdivided.
In such arrangements it is a common practice to provide a suction pipe with a suction nozzle or mouth for each such blade and a plurality of such blades and respective slides on the common guide rail.
During slitting, the formation of dust and other debris is unavoidable and the suction nozzle serves to collect the debris which is thus formed.
The formation of such dust and debris is particularly common where the web is a foil, especially a foil provided with a magnetic coating of the type to be slit into magnetic tape.
The collection of the dust by suction is substantially imperative if the dust, because of its high abrasive quality and its tendency to adhere to the foil and other surfaces, is not to pose a problem. Indeed, it is impossible to operate under the requirements of a clean room in the absence of such suction removal of the dust.
In the prior art systems used for collecting or removing the cutting dust, it is customary to provide suction nozzles at the cutting blades which are connected by hose-like suction lines with suction fittings.
Upon an adjustment of the cutting blade to another position, e.g. so as to vary the cutting width or for other setup work or maintenance, the suction pipe is usually disconnected from the suction fitting since the suction fitting is usually fixedly positioned and does not permit sufficient shifting of the particular slide. The suction pipe must then be fitted onto another suction fitting. As a consequence, the setup time is comparatively long and the setup operation requires numerous manipulative procedures.